Conventional organic substrates, especially the larger ones, rely on a thick core layer to maintain substrate stiffness during component assembly and printed circuit board (PCB) assembly. Without a core, the substrate is too flexible during component or board assembly; and the substrate is prone to warpage in a package. Such warpage can result in interconnect failures at the die and the substrate solder bump joint or at the substrate and the printed circuit board (PCB) ball grid array (BGA) joint. Such warpage can also result in substrate cracks.